To all caring teachers— and their students. Acknowledgements My thanks to career specialist Marilyn Smith and guidance counselor Steve Michaels of DeLand High School, DeLand, Florida, for answering my many questions and introducing me to new ideas and programs. Thanks also to the many other educators and program directors who shared their insights with me.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Vollstadt, Elizabeth Weiss, 1942– Teen dropouts / by Elizabeth Weiss Vollstadt. p. cm. — (Lucent overview series. Teen issues) Includes bibliographical references and index. Summary: Discusses the problem of teen dropouts, including who drops out of school and why, what life is like after dropping out, how to help teens stay in school, and how to give them a second chance. ISBN 1-56006-625-3 (lib. bdg. : alk. paper) 1. High school dropouts—United States—Juvenile literature. 2. High school attendance—United States—Juvenile literature. [1. Dropouts. 2. High school. 3. Schools.] I. Title. II. Series. LC146.6.V64 2000 373.12'913'0973—dc21 99-042535 No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means, electrical, mechanical, or otherwise, including, but not limited to, photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without prior written permission from the publisher.

Getting a Second Chance
APPENDIX NOTES ORGANIZATIONS TO CONTACT SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER READING WORKS CONSULTED INDEX PICTURE CREDITS ABOUT THE AUTHOR

TeenDropouts FRONT

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Introduction

What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? . . . Or does it explode? 1

THESE LINES ARE taken from the poem “Harlem” byAfrican-American poet Langston Hughes. Written in 1951, the poem asks what happens when people cannot achieve their dreams because of racial prejudice. More recently, it inspired the title of a 1995 report on high school dropouts by the Educational Testing Service (ETS)—Dreams Deferred: High School Dropouts in the United States. The report uses some of the latest information from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) of the U.S. Department of Education to discuss the hundreds of thousands of young people who drop out of school each year. The dreams of these young dropouts are said to be “deferred,” or postponed, because more and more jobs today require a high level of skill and education. By dropping out of high school, teens are “locking themselves out of mainstream society and are barred from good-paying jobs,” 2 says the ETS. For example, according to the U.S. Bureau of the Census, in 1996 high school dropouts earned an average salary of only $14,013, about one-third less than the $21,431 earned by high school graduates. In addition, dropouts comprise half of all heads of households on welfare and more than half of all people in jail. Despite these sobering facts, 5 percent of all teens in high school drop out each year. This percentage has re-...

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...without a high school diploma. Dropping out of high school is a serious problem all around the world, including the United States. What does dropping out of high school mean? According to the article “Background on High School Dropouts,” “Dropping out is defined as leaving school without a high school diploma or equivalent credential such as a General Educational Development (GED) certificate as defined by the National Center for Education Statistics.” What are the reasons why students drop out? Children drop out of school for many subjective and objective reasons, including boredom, crime, drugs, pregnancy, and economic factors. Moreover, dropping out of school has many effects upon children. What are these effects? Do parents know about them? If they know the origin of these problems and how harmful they are, Americans will find the solutions for them easier. Children are the future of the country, so education is indispensable for today's children. Americans need to adopt a plan that reduces the rate of students dropping out of high school. What can parents, teachers, officials, and students do?
Students drop out of school for many reasons. The first reason is lacking of interesting with their school. According to M. C. B. in "High School Dropouts," the cause that students drop out of high school is “they lack relevant or interesting lessons in their classes and the lack of individual attention from their instructors.” Teenagers usually...

...Nevada High School Dropout Rate Highest in the Nation
Throughout our nation we are facing a multitude of different problems found in economies, schools and homes. Our nation’s main concern and biggest problem is Students dropping out of school. We find it happening in every city, every state and all over our nation. More than 7,200 kids on average drop out of school each year. As the years go by, the average begins to grow larger.
Nevada has the worst high-schooldropout rate in the nation and ranks 33rd in the nation overall, since 2000, the state has seen an increase in the percentage. This is becoming a very common problem throughout our nation. The national dropout rate has now reached 7 percent. "Whatever economic recovery we have now, it's not trickled down. It's not a true economic recovery for kids,"(Beavers). Nevada's dropout rate stayed at 4.2 percent during the 2010-2011 school years (Department of Education). Although just Nevada’s statewide graduation rate for 2010-2011 was 70.3 percent. Nevada's rapid growth and migratory population are other factors in its high dropout rate. Statistically only one fourth of students who enter high school this year will not earn a diploma. About 72.3 percent, or 16,979, of graduates in Nevada received a standard diploma and 16.7 percent, or 3,922 students, earned an advanced diploma. "While someone may want to argue the methodology being used, the...

...Sarahi Oviedo
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October 24, 2012
Dropouts and the Future
Most students set goals in their lives as scholars to keep going to school and be someone in life. Although, sometimes it is difficult for them to keep following their dreams because many obstacles go through in their path; most of them are related with school and family. These obstacles transform into bullying, economic problems, pregnancy, and psychological problems, the four factors that influence students to lose the desire of continuing their education to, grow as a person, be responsible, and reach the goals they once set in their lives.
Making fun of classmates, racism, teasing, and even threats are part of bullying, which is one of the main factors for students dropping out school. Students decide to stop attending school for being disliked due to their differences; students do not feel safe. These make the students having an uncomfortable environment in school make them want to stop going to school so they can avoid bullying from their classmates.
Some students with a good economic status believe studying to be unimportant in the belief that their parents will always be at their sides, making all decisions for them. All this, in part, is the parents fault because now days, parents worry more about having a good economic status and giving everything to their children, rather than encouraging them to keep studying. Parents tend to pay more attention to...

...High Dropout Rates Negatively Affect Students and the Nation
High School Dropouts, 2013
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The Alliance for Excellent Education is a Washington, DC-based national policy and advocacy organization that works to improve education policy in America.
America pays dearly for its high school dropouts. When young people do not graduate from high school the economic impact is extensive. For the dropout, wages remain significantly lower throughout their lives. The country's overall economy is weakened by their diminished purchasing power. Socially, the consequences are also significant. High school graduates have a much more positive social prognosis—their health is better, they are less likely to commit crimes or utilize government assistance programs, and perhaps most importantly, they are able to raise a healthier and better-educated future generation of children. The cost of high school dropouts is immense and every effort should be made to change current trends.
Every school day, nearly 7,000 students become dropouts. Annually, that adds up to about 1.2 million students who will not graduate from high school with their peers as scheduled. Lacking a high school diploma, these individuals will be far more likely than graduates to spend their lives periodically unemployed, on government assistance, or cycling in and out of the prison system.
Most high school...

...College Dropouts
A college degree has become a necessity today because of the highly-competitive market. Unfortunately, college is becoming less of a reality and more like yesterday's American Dream. According to a study from Harvard University, the rate of American students who tend to drop out before receiving a degree is higher than in other developed countries (Waldron, Study: Nearly Half of America’s College Students Drop out Before Receiving a Degree). The study also found out that only 56 percent of the students who enter America’s colleges and universities graduate within six years, while 29 percent of the students who enter two-year degree programs complete their degrees within three years. According to a recent Harvard University study, the top reasons for dropping out are: the cost of studying, the students’ inability to cope with the competing demands of the study, family and jobs and the unpreparedness of the student for the rigors of academic work (Carlozo, Why College Students Stop Short of a Degree).
The number one reason why students drop out from school is the increasing cost of a college education. According to Carlozo’s article, a four-year private college education tripled the price between the years 1980 to 2010. Considering the recession in the United States and its shaky economy, it is harder for students to go to school, even if they are sponsored by parents or are supporting themselves. If one cannot afford to go to school due to...

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Going to school has always been seen as one of the most important occupations in our life. All categories of ages can go to school; kids, young people and even adults. School is defined as a place where people get an education. By going to school, people can acquire knowledge and skill that are not only important for the society but also for them. However, getting out of the educative system has become a big phenonem nowadays. It mostly affects students from high school. They usually get out of school without earning at least a High School Diploma. Isn’t too early for those young students to drop out of school? The answer is that sometimes, they have problems that make them get out of school. While dropping out of high school is due to problems such as the financial situation, the family circumstance faced by students, and their difficulty to get adapted to the school system, it also produces effects such as the limited access to jobs, the exposition to juvenile delinquency and the lack of education.
The major cause that motivates students to get out of high school is the financial situation of their parents. Not all students come from a rich family. Because of a lack of money, some parents cannot afford their children’s need such as school supplies, transportation or nutrition. Regularly, they just have a low rate job...

...disconnected from their peers and from teachers and other adults at school. And it's about schools and communities having too few resources to meet the complex emotional and academic needs of their most vulnerable youth.
Although the reasons for dropping out vary, the consequences of the decision are remarkably similar. Over a lifetime, dropouts typically earn less, suffer from poorer health as adults, and are more likely to wind up in jail than their diploma-earning peers. An August 2007 report by the California Dropout Research Project (PDF) detailed the economic and social impacts of failing to finish high school in the Golden State. The numbers cited in the report are sobering: High school graduates earn an average of nearly $290,000 more than dropouts over their lifetime, and they are 68 percent less apt to rely on public assistance. The link between dropout rates and crime is also well documented, and the report's data indicates that high school graduation reduces violent crime by 20 percent. And nationally, the economic impact is clear: A 2011 analysis by the Alliance for Excellent Education estimates that by halving the 2010 national dropout rate, for example (an estimated 1.3 million students that year), "new" graduates would likely earn a collective $7.6 billion more in an average year than they would without a high school diploma.
Mounting research on the causes and consequences of dropping...

...significant amount of every classroom has group of students that struggle academically. Teachers and administrators provide outside help to the student body. However, many chose not to take advantage of their opportunities.
Another reason kids are not graduating is absenteeism. Missing school greatly impacts the dropout rate. About 5-7.5 million students are absent from 12-20 days of the school year. The main reasons for missing school are because of illnesses, juvenile justices, bullying, and parents not valuing their children’s education enough. (American Teacher 2012)
Bullying is a significant reason for dropping out. Two children in every classroom miss a day of school each month because they feel bullied. (Kennedy, Washington Post)
Drugs and alcohol also have their affect on students’ not finishing high school. Usually the heavy drinkers are teens between the ages of 12-20. 1 in 5 students drink heavily which makes about 7 million students nationwide.( Staff, ProQuest)Drinking and doing drugs is absolutely in the choice of the student. It is something they should consider when planning their high school careers because it may be detrimental to their future.
Teens that are delinquent are more likely to make poor choices and decrease their chances in graduating. Those who are expelled or suspended usually continue on a downward spiral. Examples such as fighting disrespect to teachers, completing little to no written...